One Sunny Afternoon
by lydiamaartin
Summary: Draco Malfoy's life had gone downhill after the war. His family had lost their money and influence, and the best job he could get was among muggles. Until one sunny afternoon, he came across a little girl and her babysitter. - DracoAstoria


**Disclaimer: I'm sure most of us would love to own Draco Malfoy. But there's only one person who does, and it's not me.**

Draco Malfoy's eyes were focused on the cement of the pathway as he walked. It was an unusually sunny afternoon, with no winds and no clouds, and the sun was at it's peak in the middle of the sky. Draco felt like a damper on the general happiness of everyone surrounding him.

_Nothing much I can do, though_, he reflected morosely. Despite wiggling their way out of Azkaban, his parents had been forced to pay a fine that left them bare of most of their possessions. The mansion which Draco had been proud to call home for seventeen years was mostly empty nowadays. He had moved out as soon as possible, even though it had shamed his father that the Malfoy heir be living in an ordinary townhouse on a hill.

There was a park south of his house, where he was walking now, mostly because he had nothing better to do. Nobody wanted to hire him for a job—the best he could get was at a muggle grocery store—and so, he had little to do during the day. Which lead to his latest hobby, muggle-watching.

_Better than muggle-hunting,___he thought, and continued walking.

In front of him, a little girl tripped, falling forward. Acting on instinct, he opened his arms and she fell into them. Startled, he glanced down into a head of strawberry blond locks, which straightened itself out into the face of a six-year-old girl.

"Aurora!" A feminine voice called, and a woman who couldn't have been more than eighteen approached him and the little girl at a run. She completely ignored him, and instead knelt to the eye level of the little girl, evidently named Aurora.

"Are you okay?" The woman seemed kind of familiar to Draco. Had she gone to Hogwarts? He knew there were quite a few wizards and witches living around town.

"I'm fine," said Aurora brightly. "This man saved me!" she added, and the woman—mother or babysitter?—glanced up to look at Draco.

_She has pretty eyes_, a distant corner of his brain noticed as she stood up. She was a few inches shorter than him, but she held herself with the poise and posture of a pureblood.

"You're Draco Malfoy," she stated suddenly, ignoring Aurora's inquiring look.

Draco blinked, and nodded. "I am. Who might you be?"

"Astoria Greengrass," she answered. "Thank you for helping Aurora," she added as an afterthought.

Draco inclined his head. "You're welcome. Don't you have a sister?"

"I do," she said, "Daphne, in your year. I'm a Ravenclaw, two years below you."

"You don't look much like Daphne," he noted. He recalled Daphne as tall, blond, and thin as a stick. Astoria was comparatively short, dark-haired, and at a reasonable weight.

"Tori," Aurora said suddenly, tugging at Astoria's dress, "do you two know each other?"

"I suppose she's not your daughter," Draco phrased the question as a statement and Astoria smiled for the first time during their conversation.

"I'm babysitting her, she's my cousin's daughter," Astoria explained, freeing an arm to scoop Aurora up. "She's a bit of a handful," she smiled wryly.

"She's adorable," Draco said truthfully. Aurora beamed at him from Astoria's arms.

"She is, isn't she?" Astoria agreed, tucking a strand of Aurora's hair behind her ear. "Well, we should get going. I promised her ice cream before we leave for home." She flashed Draco one last smile and turned to leave.

"Wait." It took Draco a moment to realize that word had come out of his mouth.

Astoria turned back around. He hesitated, looking from Aurora's bright blue eyes to Astoria's rich chocolate gaze.

"If you're not too busy, I know a man who makes amazing sundaes, over at Bluebell Lane," Draco offered. "I'll even pay."

Astoria's smile lit up her face, and Draco couldn't help but think that he'd like to see more of her smile.

"Aurora?" Astoria glanced in askance at the little girl in her arms.

"Does he have strawberry?" Aurora asked him.

Draco grinned. "He's got every flavor you can think of, and some you can't," he promised.

Aurora grinned. "I wanna go!" she told her babysitter.

Astoria looked back at Draco and her smile widened. "I'd love to." She paused. "But I'm paying for myself," she warned him.

Draco laughed, his first true one in many days. "Suit yourself," he told her, and impulsively offered his arm. "Shall we?"

Astoria smiled impishly at him and wound her hand through his arm. "We shall."

**Author's Notes: So, how was that? Was Draco too OOC? I tried to keep him in character. Review and tell me what you think, please!**


End file.
